Among alcoholics, there is one of the biggest dreams, that is, to be intoxicated in the aroma of wine, drunk dreams of death. Everyone knows the health hazards of greedy cups, and alcoholism can lead to a variety of diseases, even fatalities. However, many people still die every year from excessive alcohol consumption. However, there has indeed been a time in history when someone drowned in a beer "flood", a shocking event that occurred in London, England, in 1814.
On October 17, 1814, a beer storage barrel at the Muse brewery in London suddenly ruptured, and the beer gushed out like a torrent, washing away other beer barrels nearby. Each barrel holds 610,000 litres of beer, for a total of 1.47 million litres, equivalent to the capacity of a swimming pool 50 meters long, 25 meters wide and 1.5 meters deep. That is, the leaked beer is enough to fill most of the pool. However, the disaster resulted in the death of seven people and the destruction of two houses. It is worth noting that this area is a slum of London, inhabited by many poor people who rent low-cost basements. When the accident occurred, most of the men went out to work, leaving only the elderly, women and children at home.
The seven victims included two elderly people, two children, two women, and a young man about 15 or 16 years old. Although the alcoholism of the two elderly men is unclear, the other five should not like to drink, so their deaths are particularly tragic.
However, more tragic things are yet to come. The Muse Distillery was certainly responsible for the incident, so they were taken to court. However, the outcome of the trial was bizarre, and the court found that the incident was a "natural disaster", that is, a natural disaster, and the distillery did not bear any responsibility. That is, neither the seven people who died, nor the damaged houses, received a penny in compensation. It is worth noting that these leaked beers have already been taxed, so at the request of the brewery, the local council exempted this part of the beer from the tax to reduce the loss of the brewery and enable it to continue operating.
Faced with this situation, one cannot help but lament that British judges seem to have a strong relationship with capitalists. Such a large-scale casualty was judged to be the will of God, and no one needed to be held accountable. The seven victims, especially five women and minors, were considered to be entitled to special protection in European and American societies, but they died without protection. At least two families were almost completely destroyed, and all this seemed to be God's will.
One might ask, did English law at the time provide for such a judgment? The answer is no. In the UK's law of the sea system, judges play a central role in the trial process, especially in cases where no applicable law is applied, and judges judge cases solely on the basis of common sense and conscience. However, it can be seen from this case that the judge found that the brewery was not at fault, and that the bursting of beer barrels was force majeure and could be regarded as providence. Although this judgment may seem plausible at first glance, a closer examination reveals its absurdity.
The root cause of the accident lies in the rupture of the beer keg, so why did it break? If anyone has looked at modern breweries, they will find many giant storage tanks, up to six or seven stories high, and one tank of beer can fill a swimming pool. The larger the storage tank, the lower the cost of making beer. And the vats of the Mücks distillery were absolutely huge at the time. The material of the beer kegs was the key to the disaster, and the beer storage tanks of the 19th century were supposed to be wooden. If left unmaintained for a long time, a certain part of the wood is corroded to the limit, and the huge beer pressure will cause the entire barrel to break. Therefore, there is no doubt that the distillery is to blame for the disaster.
However, those who died were poor, and the judges clearly lacked compassion for these poor people. The judges of the time were almost all of aristocratic origin, and they regarded the lives of the poor as a mustache. For example, the Duke of Wellington, the British commander at Waterloo who defeated Napoleon, once claimed that more British soldiers were hanged for disciplinary violations than were killed by the French on the battlefield. Perhaps this statement is exaggerated, but it can be seen how cruel the military discipline of the British army is, and soldiers from poor backgrounds can be executed at any time.
Back to the London beer flood, a tragedy that resulted in so many casualties. If this happens in China, the Qing government may seek scapegoats and pay compensation to quell public anger. However, the British judge placed the blame on God as providence, thus sparing the brewery from accountability. The seven victims, especially five of them women and minors, seemed to be ignored in the society of the time, and their lives became worthless.